Game



A. S. M UCCI Nov. 5, 1968 GAME Filed Aug. 29, 1966 INVENTOR.

ARTHUR S. MUCCI ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,408,332 "GAME Arthur S. Mucci, 3819 Merritt Ave.,

' Bronx, NY. 10466 Filed Aug. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 575,606 1 Claim. (Cl. 101368) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A game including a plurality of stamps each having the form of an outline of one of a group of parts of a jointed body for cooperatively stamping the outline of said body in one of an endless series of combinations for coloring.

Each stamp includes a rigid support with a handle and This invention relates to games and more particularly to educational forms of amusements for children.

In' comparatively recent times, there has been a well received tendency to provide games which induce a creative ability in the children employing them. Thus, the object has been to provide amusements not merely in forms to be used directly, but rather in forms requiring creation.

It is, along these lines, an object of the invention to provide an educational game in such form as to replace, for example, simple coloring books with apparatus by means of which a child can create outlines of his own choice for subsequent coloring.

As will be seen hereinafter, games provided in accordance with the invention enable a child to connect a number of outlined parts to product a completed body represented in one of an almost endless series of activity phases. The thusly constituted body is in such outline form that the child may then perform a coloring operation as was heretofore performed directly in coloring books.

Advantageously, games of the invention will cause children to use their imagination in respect of the numerous final forms which are possible. At the same time, such games are attention attracting and can maintain interest over relatively long periods of time.

Moreover, games of the invention are readily manufactured by the use of mass production techniques at low costs and thus can be made available in quantity to the public at large.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a game embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a stamp and inked pad taken from the game of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom view of the stamp illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIGURE 4 illustrates the coloring of a completed body formed with the stamps of the game of the invention;

FIGURE 5 shows a variation of design form created within the scope of the invention; and

FIGURE 6 illustrates still another variation of the design form.

Referring to the drawings, the game illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a container 10, including partitions 12 and 14 and accommodating a plurality of stamps 16, a plurality of crayons or other such coloring instruments 18, an ink pad 20 and a bottle of pad ink 22. Pad 20 can be broken into sections such as sections 24, 26, 28 and 30 which may be of different colors.

FIGURE 2 illustrates a stamp 16 in greater detail and in this figure it can be seen that the stamp 16 comprises a rigid support body 32, a handle 34 and a ridge of -stamping material 36 (see also FIG. 3).

Support 30 may be of a rigid material such as wood, plastic, hard rubber or the like. Handle 34, which permits readily manipulating the stamp, is positioned atop-support 32 and may be of similar or identical materials. Handle 34 may be integral with support 32 or may be separate therefrom.

Ridge 36 is of conventional stamp material such as natural or synthetic rubber or plastic or the like. Its function is to transfer ink from for example pad section 26 to the surface of a paper sheet or the like.

As will be seen in greater detail hereinafter, ridge 36 is in the form of an outline of one of a group of parts of a jointed body such as appears for example in each of FIGS. 4-6. The outline may be closed, but as shown in FIG. 3 is open as indicated at 38. In this instance, the ridge 36 has two ends 40 and 42 which terminate adjacent and spaced from the ends of edge 44 of support 32. To indicate where ends 40 and 42 are located, there are provided two' indicators or markers 46 and 48 respectively. Said markers will provide the user with an indication of the location of the aforesaid ends which are hidden when the stamp is in its normal attitude of use (FIG. 2). The markers 46 and 48 thus facilitate use of the respective stamps as will appear hereinafter.

Referring to FIG. 4 by way of example, there appears the jointed body 50 of a fictitious character. The body is referred to as being jointed since it consists of a plurality of parts which extend :between joints or between a joint and free extremity by means of which the thusly connected parts are of relatively adjustable attitudes. The parts 52 and 54 are deposited by means of the stamp illustrated in FIG. 3 which is first applied to for example ink pad section 26 and then to a paper surface or the like. Thigh parts 56 and 58 are similarly made with a single stamp having a ridge with a configuration to provide the necessary shape. Groin 60 is similar to the aforesaid parts in being open-ended as are forearm and upper arm parts 62 and 64, respectively. Chest part 66 and head part 68 are somewhat different in that these parts are not openended and instead are composed of completely closed outlines. The stamps for these closed parts may nevertheless be provided with indicators to indicate where the elements are to be connected to other elements in the jointed body.

The stamps provided in accordance with the invention are preferably non-deformable since they are designed to represent the ultimate in the body sections concerned so that the body itself can be represented by merely changing the attitudes of the different parts at the jointed connections between the various body parts. Other elements can be added thereto by means of the aforesaid crayons 18 and one such part is indicated in the form of the hood or cape 70.

The entire form presented by the use of the above stamps is an outline only, which outline is to be filled in by the subsequent use of coloring instruments. Such coloring will be applied by the child creating the finished body which will take the place of the vacant outline appearing in coloring books and the like which are now conventionally available.

FIGS. 5 and 6 respectively show fictitious styles of an octopus and a horse respectively constituted by groups of parts connected together at joints to form jointed bodies. It will be obvious that the finished form of such bodies may vary completely and depend only upon the mann r in which the'user of the stamps wishes to connect the ele ments together. In FIG. 5 the octopus tentacles consist of a multiplicity of segments 72, all of which are fabricated with the same stamp. The head 74' comprises not only the outer ridge 76 but, moreover, is provided with internal ridges 78 which define shapes and parts within the head considered as a whole.

In FIG. 6, the joints appear at 80, 82, 84 and so forth, it being obvious that the horse can be fashioned in numerous and widely varying attitudes of action.

According to the above, a game is provided which comprises a plurality of non-deformable stamps each having the form of an outline of one of a group of parts of a jointed body. Such stamps, it has been shown, are adapted for cooperatively stamping onto a surface the outline of said jointed body with the parts joined in one of a substantially endless series of combinations. The body thus formed is adapted for subsequent coloring.

To provide for optimum usage of said stamps to the end that longest life is afforded without departing from the spirit of providing an outline only, the ridges of the stamps illustratively illustrated in the form of ridge 36, are preferably of a width of .01 to .10 inch. Such dimensions are variable in accordance with the nature of the material employed.

In addition to the aforesaid examples, it is possible to make stamps in the forms of heads and faces embodying alternative eye, ear, nose and mouth configurations as well as other facial features. Moreover, it has been found possible to provide varying styles of hoods and masks, as well as hats, kerchiefs, and so forth. Considering for example the varying nature of hats, it has been found possible to employ the designs of cow-boy hats, derbies,

Indian head dresses, helmets, spacemen helmets, and so 4 H Animal styles are possible in an-endless variety and'it is possible to apply the invention to inanimate as well as animate forms, as well as to cartoons and the like.

Finally, there may also be incorporated into the game a line eliminator 86 (FIG..6) which may be constituted by a sheet of metal or plastic preferably. in triangular shape-eliminator 86 can be.used to eliminate the paper in selected area" (i.e., see eliminated line 88 in FIG. 6 shown in dotted lines).

There will now be obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications and variations of the game set forth above. These modifications and. variationswill not depart from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claim.

What is claimed is:

1. A game comprising a plurality of non-deformable stamps, each having the form of an outlineof one of a group of parts of a jointed body and being adapted for cooperatively stamping onto a surface the outline of said body with said parts joined in one of a substantially endless series of combinations for subsequent coloring, each of said stamps comprising a rigid support body, a handle atop said body, a ridge of stamping material depending from said support body and in the form of one of said parts; the ridge on at least one of the stamps forming an open-ended outline and having two .ends adjacent but spaced from the ends of an edge of the corresponding support body, and projecting indicia means on said one stamp body in alignment with the ends of the ridge thereon to indicate the part of the related ridge which is to be joined to an adjacent body part.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1888 Laughton ll8264 4/1929 Pels 3526 FOREIGN PATENTS 680,173 lO/19-52 Great Britain. 

